Vacation, continued

Friday
Biscuits and gravy/jelly/honey for breakfast, more crocheting (two dishclothes/potholders and half a scarf), a quick snack for lunch, shopping with Kim for a dress and a coat, spaghetti dinner, watching HP5 (one of my birthday presents), watching "A Hiding Place" with Kim while working on the scarf, and typing this note. :-)

Tomorrow we are heading back to my dad's house. The plan is to watch disc two of LotR3, and then head home on Sunday...

Vacation, continued

Wednesday and Thursday
Hanging out at Dan and Dorcas' house. I ate a lot, played some DDR, went to Walmart, bought yarn, and started some more crocheting since I left my current crochet project at home. We also played a lot of Dutch Blitz, Take Two, etc. Fun, relaxing times. Dan and Dorcas and their kids left on Thursday morning, so now only the Reeves and the Indiana/MN Cromers remain...

Vacation, continued...

Monday
After sleeping in, we watched some Lord of the Rings, and got ready for Christmas Eve dinner at Dad's house. We made pepper steak, and my Aunt Carol and Uncle Jason (Mom's brother and sister-in-law) came over, in addition to Diana, one of my dad's really good friends. After dinner, we went to a 9 PM service at the Methodist church where Diana went while growing up. The service was very structured - it reminded me more of a Catholic service than what we have at GCR...

Tuesday
We woke up early in order to try to finish LotR, but alas, we only got through disc 1. We had present opening with Dad, and we made some side dishes in preparation for Christmas day lunch at Uncle Dave and Aunt Martha's (my dad's brother and sister-in-law). We were on a mission to finish lunch before 2 PM so we would be able to make it to Matt's aunt and uncle's before 6 PM. At 2 PM, we remembered the time change. Oops. So we were on the road by 2:30/3:30 and were able to make it to Dan and Dorcas' by 7 PM. :-) We had called ahead to say we'd be late, but everyone waited for us anyway. We had dinner, read the Christmas story from Luke, opened presents, played some DDR, and watched Elf (which was part of my present). We went to sleep late. :-)

FYI regarding the "real" enneagram

There is a version of the enneagram, called Wagner Enneagram Personality Style Scales (WEPSS) which happens to be a much longer instrument which also tries to help one determine which of 9 types best suits them. There were some studies that showed some link between the WEPSS and the MBTI, but a couple of reviews I read said that while it is useful, there are other, more commonly used instruments that can also help. This one, one reviewer felt, was most useful in a clinical setting, providing some structure for a counselor working with a client. :-) Just a bit of info, although as my friends know, I still find this stuff totally fun even when taking the shortened, estimating versions. :-)

Taking the "quick version" enneagram per Ali's blog

Your Score: 8 - the Asserter

you chose AY - your Enneagram type is EIGHT (aka "The Challenger").

"I must be strong"

Asserters are direct, self-reliant, self-confident, and protective.

How to Get Along with Me

• Stand up for yourself... and me.
  
• Be confident, strong, and direct.
  
• Don't gossip about me or betray my trust.
  
• Be vulnerable and share your feelings. See and acknowledge my tender, vulnerable side.
  
• Give me space to be alone.
  
• Acknowledge the contributions I make, but don't flatter me.
  
• I often speak in an assertive way. Don't automatically assume it's a personal attack.
  
• When I scream, curse, and stomp around, try to remember that's just the way I am.

What I Like About Being a EIGHT

• being independent and self-reliant
  
• being able to take charge and meet challenges head on
  
• being courageous, straightforward, and honest
  
• getting all the enjoyment I can out of life
  
• supporting, empowering, and protecting those close to me
  
• upholding just causes

What's Hard About Being a EIGHT

• overwhelming people with my bluntness; scaring them away when I don't intend to
  
• being restless and impatient with others' incompetence
  
• sticking my neck out for people and receiving no appreciation for it
  
• never forgetting injuries or injustices
  
• putting too much pressure on myself
  
• getting high blood pressure when people don't obey the rules or when things don't go right

EIGHTs as Children Often

• are independent; have an inner strength and a fighting spirit
  
• are sometimes loners
  
• seize control so they won't be controlled
  
• fugure out others' weaknesses
  
• attack verbally or physically when provoked
  
• take charge in the family because they perceive themselves as the strongest, or grow up in difficult or abusive surroundings

EIGHTs as Parents

• are often loyal, caring, involved, and devoted
  
• are sometimes overprotective
  
• can be demanding, controlling, and rigid

Link: The Quick & Painless ENNEAGRAM Test

Vacation so far

Friday
I said goodbye to my kitties, and we left the house a little after 7 PM. We got to mom's around 12:30 AM on Friday. Mom and I stayed up and talked for a while. Kevin wasn't there b/c he had some sort of a virus that he didn't want to pass along. I finally went to bed - late again.

Saturday
Matt and I had some brekfast and opened presents with mom. We got her and Kevin a tripod for their camera, and I got her some perfume. She gave Matt a recipe book that he was pretty excited about, and she gave me Willow Tree Nativity set. I also opened my birthday present, since I probably won't get back in time for that. Mom gave me a few pretty necklaces for my birthday, which was extra good b/c I hadn't brought any with me. :-)

We got on the road around 10 AM and headed to Hobart intending to see Dawn, my best friend from high school and maid-of-honor. As we neared Hobart, we gave Dawn a call and found out she was busy preparing for a dinner with her boyfriend's familay for Saturday night - we were running slightly late and didn't want to have limited time, so we all agreed that we would com over on Sunday instead.

So we headed to Dad's. We unpacked and hung out for a while watching some cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies. Dad told us that he had run into one of my friends from the group of friends that knew Kevin, my ex-boyfriend. The whole group was getting together at Kevin's on Sunday night, and I was invited on the spot. Sounds like fun, so I called Kevin to ask if it was okay, and it was. Later on, we went to meet my brother for dinner in Hobart. We ate at Chili's. My brother didn't talk much, but it went okay. My Dad gave him his Christmas present from Grandma, which was some $$, and Dad's present, which was gift certificates for food from a few restaurants. My brother is not exactly doing well right now, so hopefully those presents will give him a chance to get by a few days. He was supposed to take a bus up to see Mom for Christmas. The bus ticket was Mom's present. Hopefully he made it to the bus stop in time. We left him at the restaurant and headed home.

When we got home, we went out to see the Christmas light display in Dad's town. It was a pretty large collection of those "animated" lights. Good times. When we got home, we stayed up for a little while longer, but tried to get to bed at a somewhat reasonable hour.

Sunday
We went to church in Portage, at the church where Matt and I were married. It has been a few years since we were back there, but not much has changed. Afterward, we drove about 5 minutes to visit with my mom's mom, and stayed at her place for about an hour and a half. She showed us around the facility and we sat with her while their informal church sung Christmas carols. It was a nice visit.

Around noon we called Dawn. She was making lunch, so we headed over. She and Nik hung out with us while lunch was being made. We also watched The Simpson's movie while we were there. It was good to catch up a bit.

For dinner, we met Uncle Bill at one of his favorite local restaurants. For those of you that don't know, Uncle Bill is nto really an uncle, but one of my dad's best friends. He has been friends with dad since before I was around, and he's stuck with Dad through everything. He's a great friend. Anyway, we had a nice visit with him over dinner.

Finally, we headed over to Kevin's parents' house. Kevin had just gotten the game "Rock Band" for Christmas, so the intent of the party was to play. I got to try each piece at least once, but there were so many people that that was about all that most people got to try.

People that were there: Kevin & Cassi, Kevin's sisters - Krystal and Kourtney, Kevin's parents - Kim and Ken (although Ken hid in the basement and Kim stayed upstairs most of the time), and friends - Mark, Greg & Rhonda, CJ, Rich & Samantha, and someone named Dave whom I vaguely remember.

Everyone was excited that my dad's old house had a "Sold" sign up. I also found out that they had not forclosed on the house, but that a deal was in the works, to be signed next week. Very good news for my dad, and all these friends had been watching and interested. I felt loved and thought of. I miss these guys so much!

I spent some time with Kim looking at wedding pictures for Kevin's and Greg's weddings. Very fun times. Krystal had designed some awesome centerpieces/necklaces/etc. and the weddings were beautiful. Such a community effort. That is something I really miss about this family...

Anyway, I was again reminded of why I married Matt - he is totally the right guy for me. I am so lucky to have a husband that meshes with me so well. God was definietly leading me to him.

So around 11 PM or so, we headed back to dad's house. We went to bed pretty quickly and were able to sleep in on Monday (a.k.a. today). I had such a good day yesterday, and I was sad to have to leave everyone, especially the big party, but I had to take care of my sweetie and let him get some sleep. :-) I told the guys at the party that if they plan a weekend when they can all hang out, I would be willing to come down and join them. We'll see if the opportunity arises.

The last week before vacation

I was so busy the last week before vacation that I had absolutely no time to blog. Sorry to everyone who has been anticipating a new post. :-(

So, last week, on Saturday, I wrote a ten page paper and got Christmas cards ready, Sunday we went to Church and lunch with friends, then we went shopping, and I made fudge and reformatted my computer yet again. We hung out at home on Monday night (Jen and I watched the finale of ANTM cycle 9), I had my final class of the semester on Tuesday, we had a cell group Christmas party on Wednesday, I hung out with the ladies on Thursday, and we left for Mom Sharp's on Friday.

In between all of those activities, I was able to get my christmas present wrapping done, packing for the trip, and deliver the house keys to our wonderful cat-sitter, Jen. I don't think I went to be before midnight on any of those days. Acutally, I don't think I've gone to bed before midnight since that Saturday paper-writing frenzy. I am tired., but I finally got to sleep in today to make up for all of the late nights.

And I just found out got an A on the paper. :-)

The Good, the Bad, and the Downright Frustrating

I finished my last paper of the semester and sent it to the instructor this afternoon! Yay! So now I have time to think about other things, like getting ready to leave for the holidays.

The bad news? I still have a lot of "work" that I have to do, so it doesn't look like I'm really going to get any sort of a break before leaving. At least while I'm gone, I will be forced to relax a bit. Then hopefully I can get most of the "work" finished before classes start up again at the end of January.

And now for the reason I am ready to scream at the moment - A while ago, Matt and I hesitantly decided to purchase an *affordable* (read "cheap") anti-virus software, b/c McAfee has gone up in price, we really hate Norton, and I'm not ready to fight any open source programs. Thinking that at least this software would be a straight install-it-and-forget-it kind of deal, we thought it was worth a shot.

I am glad to say that at least we didn't waste very much $$ on this piece of junk software that has brought me almost to the point of tears. I am so amazingly frustrated that there are simply no words to describe what I am feeling. Matt has agreed, although his computer didn't react as badly as mine, and so he purchased a copy of the more pricey McAfee program today. I am now reformatting for the second time in the last month or so, and I am going to be fighting to take the company up on their 100% money-back guarantee. Apparently the other users who hate this program have not had much luck with this, but by golly I will not go down without a fight!

Singing with Allison and Ellie

Today I was in a mood to sing. When I got to Allison's, we ate dinner, and afterwards were still the only people there. So we decided to sing Christmas songs while Allison played the piano. Since Allison's voice is still not totally back, she is having trouble singing in the higher ranges, and I always have trouble singing in the higher ranges, but we had fun anyway. And Ellie enjoyed singing along, too.

And now, I would like to take a moment to say how much I like it when Allison plays the piano. I don't have many friends up here in MN who play, and it's nice to have a friend around who is willing to play while I since and dance around her house like a fool. Yay for Allison!

One Down...

I am done with one class and have only one paper left to write and one more day of class before break! So the best new is that I am finally starting to relax a bit. I'm becoming more of my goofy self again. So happy! I am still overwhelmed with things to do, but I think I can handle them now that I have more free time during the week. On Saturday, I will be spending the morning writing my last paper, and when I'm done, I'll be free! Then I'll have to catch up on all my Christmas shopping and planning. What fun! And even better yet - I have nearly the whole month of January off of school - woohoo!

So "Cah-hold" Outside....

It has been a while since I posted - sorry to anyone who is bummed about this. Anyway, last week was a busy one. I took off work Tuesday through Friday in order to attend MBTI Qualifying training down by the MOA. I braved nasty snow driving nearly every day and left at least 2 hours before training started in order to get there on time. The plus side - I learned so much! And now I want to talk with other people about what I learned, but it seems that practically no one is as interested in this stuff as I am. It's sad but true, and now I will have to keep most of what I know to myself in order not to bore others...

At some point in my life, I hope to be able to use what I know on the job, and therefore have an outlet for talking and sharing with others. Looking forward to that... Or even better, maybe I could use what I know at our church? There were a bunch of people in training with me that wanted to do just that. If ever I have the opportunity, I will pounce on it like a cat on a dangling piece of yarn. :-D

Other news - it is still freezing, but Matt and I are motivated to "get moving" again, so we pulled out DDR yesterday and today. We're going to try to keep ourselves more active this winter than we have been in the last few years. The big difference this time is that we have set up a reward/anti-reward system for ourselves to hopefully help keep us motivated. We'll see how effective our system is in the coming months.

And the best news of all - I am mostly done with one of two 10-page final papers, and I only have two evenings of class left for the year. Woohoo! Then it's time for a break. And boy do I need a break...

Don't go to see "The Golden Compass"

Check this out:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp

Back to School

It's almost time for class, but I realized that I hadn't posted in a while, so here is my post!

I'm tired and hungry, so let's hope I can stay awake in class. :-)

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble!

It is Turkey Day! Mom and Kevin made it into town safely, and we had a good evening baking pies and drinking Chai and eating some "Betta Snacks" (graham and chocolate cookies from Africa that taste kind of like whole grain fudge stripe cookies). I am so ready for sleep, but I haven't posted in a while, so I wanted to write something before bed.

The one bummer is that I was asked to help out on a high priority project today (testing for a release that should be ready to go out on Saturday), and I will very likely be needed for about 20 minutes on Friday morning. My day off is not necessarily going to be a day off after all, but hey - I get paid by the hour, so I'm not complaining. :-)

We'll probably do some shopping and Christmas decorating on Friday while Mom and Kevin are still here, so I suppose I could work in some work-time on top of the fun-time activities. And I've been craving a trip to IKEA, so maybe I'll do that on Saturday? I love extended weekends!

Car Problems - again...

So the car is having issues again, but it's most likely a loose vacuum hose or a faulty AIC (which is what we had replaced last week). Looks like Matt gets to carpool with Dusty tomorrow...

My computer is clean!

I reformatted! And I couldn't be happier. So many things work like they are supposed to now! And I found a work around for my printer software since the fix will probably never be available. Woohoo! This task has been on my to-do list since last winter...

Tired and trying to stay awake...

I am soooo tired right now! My eyes are burning, and I've had way too much trouble focusing on things I had to read today. Hopefully this weekend I can get some sleep since I don't have any major homework due next week...

I'm looking forward to scrapping tomorrow. I got so much done last week, and I still have a ton left for this week, so I know I'll be productive. :-)

I also had a very productive afternoon at work today. Lots to do! It all helps me stay awake. Now I need some caffeine to get me through my next class. We have a guest speaker today, so that should make me a little more motivated to put extra effort into concentrating.

Buick Update

I know you were all very concerned about the car, so here's an update:

It's fixed! For now... :-) And the repairs were the most cost effective solution, so yay! If you are as happy as I am, post a comment and let me know.

And thanks to Dustin for doing all the transporting and car loaning and carpooling with Matt. I didn't even get to go to the shop this time...

Matt is the funniest guy I know

Seriously, if you have not read his bog - whoops! I mean blog - yet, you need to. I have now twice laughed so hard that I cried. You need to read it. :-)

If you don't understand the above statement, click here: http://anteru.blogspot.com/2007/11/matts-blogginghehe.html

The Buick is not feeling well

Matt took the Buick to Walmart today and almost got stuck on the way home. While stopped, the Buick just shut itself off. When Matt tried to start it again, the engined turned over, but it wouldn't start. :-(

Thankfully, while he was on the phone asking me what we should do, his second attempt to start the car worked. After Bible study, he took the car around the block a couple times and had no problems. Still, we don't want to risk him getting stuck in Minnetonka tomorrow, so Dustin (the good friend that he is) is lending Matt his truck for the day tomorrow. (Dustin has the day off work and doesn't seem to mind the excuse to stay in and play Halo 3.) Matt and Dustin took the car up to the shop, and then Matt dropped Dustin off at home.

So, Matt and I might be in the market for a new car, depending on the shop's diagnosis... Needless to say, Matt is back to searching through ebay motors for ideas and possible good finds. :-) He just put in a couple of really low offers that probably won't even be considered, but hey - there's no harm in trying. It would be a pain to have to wait till the weekend to shop the Owner-to-Owner Car Mart if we could get a good deal sooner...

Matt is blogging!

Check out Matt's blog at http://anteru.blogspot.com.

Driving slow on Sunday morning...

I had a great afternoon with my hubby - we had some spare time to catch up on last week's episodes of Heroes and Smallville, we went for a walk, and now we're playing some music. Fun times! And here's a pic of my talented hubby with his guitar...

I had a really good time at scrapping tonight. I made some really awesome cards, and we got to hang out with some ladies who don't normally come. Yay for new people! I also really enjoyed the caramel-filled Hershey Kisses. :-)

And can I just say that Allison makes a great stew? I didn't even mind the couple of mushrooms that I ended up eating because the stew was so dang good. And thanks to Randi for bringing her embosser so I didn't have to run home! I have great friends. Thanks for taking care of me tonight. Love you all...

A fun new game...

http://www.bass10.com/flash-games/puzzle-games/bloxorz-puzzle-game/

I love my kitties!

And they love me...

I am avoiding writing a paper right now... instead I have decided to browse some scrapping sites. I'm kind of motivated to get going with Christmas cards again, but I'm not sure I can get myself to do the required prep. I am also feeling pretty drained this week. Too much is happening in one little week for me to keep up, but I'm going to try.

Now I need to go and try to learn to be more like the woman we learned about at Bible study yesterday. Mabel, despite being blind, deaf, severely disfigured, and alone in a nursing home for 25 years, loved Jesus, constantly meditated on God's Word, and lived her life with an attidute of true joy and gratefulness. I want to be like her.

Still not up to par

I am "draining" today... This is good news! Time to get rid of all the yuckiness. So while my throat is better, my head is still a little packed and it's making me dizzy.

But, the good news is that I was feeling well enough to go with Matt to Best Buy. He had $20 in "rewards points" that were burning a hole in his pocket. So we bought a microphone, and now we are recording guitar, drums, vocals - even while I'm sick. I'm interested to see how my "sick" voice compares to my "healthy" voice. :-) It should be a fun experiment...

I've got the sniffles

I woke up this morning with a not so nice feeling in my throat. Actually, it helped me to wake up on time, which was nice. (I have trouble sleeping when my throat hurts.) I had to wake up at 5:15 in order to have enough time for getting ready and driving to work by 6:30. So I grabbed a bag of cough drops as I headed out the door, and I was able to make it to work on time. Yay!

Then my day went on with me going through about half the bag of cough drops and using about 10 tissues - not too bad, but still, this is definitely a case of the sniffles. :-(

Let's take a moment to review...

Summary:
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/rich-noyes/2007/10/30/study-media-elites-campaign-news-more-biased-talk-radio

Details:
http://www.journalism.org/node/8197

'Nuf said.

Fun with HTML

So for those of you who regularly read this blog, you may have noticed a few changes as of late. I have been easily distracted from work lately, and instead of getting things done, I have been updating the "look" of my blog. My most recent addition - the "shadow", similar to Allison's blog. I liked it so much that I decided to add one to my page. What fun times!

Good friends, good fellowship

I had a really good time at study tonight. I feel like I was meant to hear this particular topic on this particular day. I also felt that way about yesterday's topic. Seems like some common themes keep cropping up as of late... and I feel like I'm listening. I so drastically want change right now, so I'm glad to have been given some good concepts on which to meditate this week. I love being a person in progress, and I hope to never be satisfied with just the status quo.

Naptime

Man, was I exhausted this afternoon. I just woke up from a 2.5 hour or so nap. And I'm still tired... so much for getting anything done. Oh well, I wasn't that motivated anyway. Maybe I can convince Matt to go for a walk with me before the meeting tonight...

So Early!

I will be at GCR by 7:55 am today, although I wish I could sleep in... :-( But at least I get to play! And - I'm excited b/c yesterday the sanctinasium was empty after lunch, and I got to play the piano for the first time. Woohoo!

Raking Leaves

Today I made myself sick by working on a rubik's cube for too long. When I got home from orchestra practice/Video Game day, I decided I needed some fresh air. So I raked the leaves. I love leaves! Fall is my favorite season.

Disc Golf!

Matt and I didn't get too many pics from last weekend's Disc Golf outing, but here are some of the better ones we did get...

I'm the queen of messy eating...

I love Tide-to-Go pens - They are rockin’ good fun! I splattered beef juices all over my lovely white T-shirt today, so I pulled out my Tide-to-Go pen and started “drawing” all over myself. And voila! Just like magic, the stains are hardly noticeable!

Just thought you all would want to know…

Also, I’m still really hungry and looking forward to pizza with my hubby tonight. We’ll probably watch some Smallville, too, which is always a good time. Woohoo!

Proud Sponsors

Matt and I are the proud sponsors of a wonderful, soon-to-be 9 year-old boy from Africa. We just finished writing him a letter earlier this evening, which is a major thing for us. We have been consistent with our giving for the last 5 years, but we have only written a few letters. Bad, bad sponsors, yet very proud and glad to do what we can. (These are pictures drawn about 3 months ago that we just got in the mail along with a letter...)

Ali was so right...

I just remembered that I'm going to be playing in orchestra in a week, so I thought I'd check out the music and make sure to practice anything that looked tricky. Yeah, so I thought I was missing something when I remembered that Ali F. said there were hardly any parts for woodwinds. Looks like I won't need to practice at all, since this will so not be a challenge. And I guess that I will be bringing my laptop to our 2 hour practice on Saturday so I don't waste all that time sitting around when I have so much to do. I am kind of bummed, though that there is only one song...

Going to bed...

So my husband had a really good idea around 10:30 PM. "Why don't we just go to bed?" he said. I thought that sounded like a good plan, so I called my friend from class to see where they were and what was going on. Turns out she left her phone at home, which had my number in it, so she couldn't call. In an effort to contact me, she changed her voicemail to give her hubby's cell number so I could call her. And I called her and left a message saying we were going to call it a night. And she called back and told me the story I just told you. And it is all good, but we did not go to Shout. We will go sometime, mark my words, but for now I'm looking forward to sleeping a bit.

Feeling Blue

I need some happy thoughts sent my way... anybody have anything good?

It's the weekend!

I'm too tired to write something, so someone else should leave a good comment for me instead. Here's a topic: What is something about yourself that you wish you could easily change in an instant? Mine would be my desire for junk food. If I could want only healthy food, I would be thrilled! I would also like to enjoy exercising... okay, it's your turn...

Working Late!

So I forgot until just now to inform my husband that I would be working from midnight until 2 am tonight. Whoops! So I'm going to be getting a highly caffeinated soda before midnight, and hopefully I make it home awake... :-D

Looking forward to scrapping...

I have nothing really important to say except that I'm going to have a chance on Friday after work to prepare for scrapping late night on Friday, which means I might actually get something done. Woohoo! Oh, and Matt and I are probably going to go to Shout! piano bar on Saturday night with a classmate, her hubby, and some of their visitors from out of town. It should be a good time...

Partying it up the "Sharp" way

Matt and I definitely chose the wrong route to get to Indiana. We have usually had luck going straight down along the lake through Chicago, but this time there was construction. It ended up taking us over 10 hours. We will be going the "long way" home, which should take us 8.5 hours, and it what we should have done in the first place...

Friday night was really tame. Just my dad, his 3 siblings, my grandma, Matt, and I went to grandma's for a chili dinner. We didn't stay too long, b/c 5 of us left for Notre Dame around 8:30 to go see my cousin Catherine, an ND sophomore. The big reason for us going so late was that the ND marching band drummers hold what they call a "drummers circle" on Friday nights before home games. It's kind of a pep rally lead by the percussion section that lasts for about 40 minutes starting at midnight. Needless to say, we were up late on Friday.

Saturday was a lazy day before the party. We slept in, watched Spaceballs, went for a walk on the beach with Dad, Grandma, and Aunt Janet. Aunt Janet got really excited about the regurgitated pellets we foundon the beach...ask me later. Then we went back to dad's and watched Sense and Sensibility. (It was my second time seeing the movie, but my first time understanding it.) We got to the party around 7, and Dad was surprised, although he knew something was up. Our music picks went over very well, and the party ran smoothly. Most people left around midnight, but family hung out until 1 or so.

And now, we have spent Sunday morning sleeping in. Matt is making me breakfast as we speak. Even my dad slept until almost 9 am, which is nearly unheard of. And I am starving, so I'm going to go eat my breakfast and get ready to drive for yet another 8.5 hours of my weekend!

Lazy evening

I am finally able to relax on a Thursday night... I think I've really just needed a calmer night because I've been so stressed with other work lately. Right now, I have my homework for Tuesday done, and I'm mostly ready for the weekend...



So this weekend is going to be fun. Matt and I are going to Indiana to hang out with family and Dad's friends for his 50th birthday... I'll write more about it later.

Feeling Strong

So lately I have been feeling very independent. I have felt like I've been standing on my own a lot (in the figurative sense), and I am glad that I can handle myself for a while and others don't have to worry about me... which is kind of scary, b/c I also feel like sooner or later I will come crashing down, at which point there will not be very many people left who know I need them. Everyone just seems to be taking care of someone else, and as it usually goes, I get left on the sidelines cheering people on but not really being part of the action. Maybe this is because I spend so much of my time working on things that other people can't relate to. Maybe I'm just an irritating, hard-to-love person and people don't like me as much as they do others. Aw heck - who knows. For now, I'm doing good with just God (and a little of Matt) to lean on, and that's way more that enough.

So I have tonight off of class, and I was able to get my 500 word homework assignment done yesterday, so that means that I get to work on a playlist tonight. Although, I'll probably end up scrapbooking, since I have been motivated since Sunday after making the first page for myself since who knows when...

No work and all play...

I intended to get some homework done this weekend - I had no such luck. Meh, I wasn't too motivated anyway. I suppose that means it's going to be a long week of work, since I'm leaving town on Friday...

Traffic!

I spent an hour and a half driving 8.5 miles today. Because of this, I was 30 minutes late for class. Of course this is okay when you are in grad school, so no big worries. The good news is I was able to keep myself from crying even though 1 hour of that time was spent travelling about 1 mile down 1st ave. Now I know we talked about slowing down in Bible Study last night, but this is just a little bit ridiculous and nerve-racking. I have to drive there, I don't want to reserve 2 hours to get 8.5 miles twice a week, just in case. So anyway, I did ask God to help me stay calm, and He came through. I was totally able to focus once I got to class, and my class let out 30 minutes early. So Matt and I got to watch Heroes before bed, and I requested pizza because I was in need of comfort food.

I'm Back!

It has been a long time since I was able to attend a full Bible Study night, and man, does it feel good to be back again. Jen and I also got to watch ANTM9 afterward, so that's good. Now it's back to the books - time to read for Wenesday's class. I don't think I'll get very far, because I'm already tired. I guess that means I'll be reading over lunch and after class tomorrow, also. :-D yay for school!

I'm an ENFP! What's your type?

Go to http://www.personalitytype.com/quiz.asp for a very short "quiz" to help estimate your Myers-Briggs type. (Disclaimer: I am not a trained professional, and this quiz will not solve all of your problems, so no complaining if you take it.) If you'd like, feel free to comment on this post and let me know where you land.

*******Update: I am now a trained professional (as of December 2007), and this short version is still not the real thing. If you want an accurate understanding of your type, contact me or another trained professional for assistance. :-)

*******Update #2, April 30th, 2009:

I have gone back and forth with this for a while. I took the MBTI at some point in 2005, and I think my answers showed up as ESFP. Of course, I was still in Engineering, and I wasn't very sure of who I really was. Thus started my journey of self-reflection.

A year later (fall of 2006), I took it again, this time the computerized version. I think I answered the questions as an ENFP this time, though I wasn't very clear on S vs. N yet.

So, time passed, I left engineering, and I had a chance to go through the training program to be certified to give the MBTI to others. This time I was a bit more confident about being an ENFP, but I wanted to dig deeper to be certain. (For those of you who know MBTI, you may see a theme emerging here.) I needed to know once and for all about S or N. The instructor suggested that it might not be about the S or N at all, but it might be a question of J vs. P. At the time, that seemed to jive with me pretty well, so ENFJ became my understanding.

Then, in the Spring of 2009 (a.k.a right now), I had an opportunity to take the MBTI Step II. I really wanted to confirm whether there were any strong "out-of-preference" facets that were trowing off my whole understanding. Lo and behold, there were. After answering the questions as honestly as I could and seeing the results of my Step II assessment, I have realized that I am an ENFP, but I am strongly out of preference in two "J" ways: I am Methodical, and I am Planful. But, being the "P" that I am, I do hold loosely to these facets.

Yay! I feel very comfortable now understanding myself to be a Planful, Methodical ENFP. Now, let's hope I can just grow in this understanding rather than waffling to something else again next year. But, knowing who I am, I wouldn't put it past myself to do so. :-)

Now that took longer than I thought it would...

I just finished my 1st written homework assignment of the semester - worth 10% of my grade for one of my classes. I think I started working around 7:30... :-) I had to read a case study that was about 10 times longer than I thought it was going to be, I had to go back through what I read yesterday and take detailed notes on a bunch of stuff I needed in order to accurately assess the case study, then I had to look through income statements and balance sheets and do some calculations, all so that I would have a clue about what I should write my 350 words on.

And now that it's done, I'm not even sure if my initial thoughts were right, but I don't think I can understand enough at this point to really form an opinion anyway. Good thing that the teacher said he's not as worried about grades but more about participation and effort...

Yay for Saturdays!

After a long Thursday and Friday (and some "down time" with my hubby on Friday night), I had almost an entire Saturday to myself! It has been a while, let me tell you...

Anyway, on Friday night, after Matt and I watched a movie, I got inspired to clean up my scrapping shelves. I have one of those 4 X 4 "cubbie" shelves from IKEA, and some of the cubbies have been collecting junk for a while. Now my shelves are looking pretty nice. Also, now that the shelves are looking nice, I got "inspired" to decorate some wooden letters to set on top of my shelves. Since Jen N. was coming over today to scrap, I had the perfect opportunity to get this done while I was still motivated. Even Matt is excited about the results. So, what do you think? Is it gorgeous, or is it gorgeous?

You can't see this very well in the picture, but I also got to use my circle stamps on the top half with glitter paint. It looks really good when the light hits it just right. By the way - guess where I got all the lovely green paper? My friend and faithful reader, Allison, gave it to me. Thanks, chica!

Exhaustion

My mind is awake, but my eyes aren't... and I fear that's how my semester will go. For that matter, I fear that's how the next two to three years will go. But it's worth it. :-)

Good Buys

I stopped by Archivers on my way home from work, and I happened to find a $40 ribbon organizer on sale for $10. I was happy. :-) So I splurged... and also used my 25% off coupon on a set of cute circle stamps that I have been admiring for a month or so. :-) If only I were independently wealthy so I could quit my job and actually find time to scrap...

So much to read...

Ahh, finally home after a long day of work. Not much time left to do the readings for class, so I guess that means I'm going to have to stay up and read again tonight... most likely I'll fall asleep. yeah, don't think I'll do a good job of keeping up this semester...

Another fine weekend

We've had some good times this weekend with Mom Cromer. We've done the Renaissance Festival and the Swedish museum/castle, and we are tired of walking! Us ladies also got some crocheting done - I finished about 5 rows on the blanket I've been working on for a couple years. :-) During our evenings, we were so tired that all we had energy for were movies, so we watched Ted Dekker's "Three" on Saturday and "Dreamer" on Sunday.

Another busy week is looming, so I have to go do some homework now. Wish me luck on getting everything done!

Ahh, it feels so nice to sleep in and wake up to such a sunny, beautiful day.

My mother-in-law arrived last night around 8 after a fiasco with her flight. (cancelled? not cancelled? NWA couldn't decide.) But today is a big day - we are going to the Renaissance festival, then possibly to the only castle in MN (Swedish Museum? depends on how much time is left).

Matt is making breakfast and asked if I could turn on some Irish music, so I'm dancing in my chair as I write this. What fun! I am seriously so affected by the style of music I listen to. I really need to schedule a Saturday night trip to a pub with my friends to listen to some live Irish music... It's time for chocolate chip pancakes - time to run!

Stream of consciousness emotions and little to no sleep...

I had a mini-emotional meltdown tonight. The enginerd in me wants to analyze everything that could possibly be related so I can fix the problem. However, I have an even bigger problem. I’m way too exhausted to analyze. Nothing is making sense. Thought #1 – I’m tired, that’s why.

But let’s not stop there. I can’t remember the last time I cried. How long has it been? Maybe my husband or my girlfriends can remember, but I certainly can’t. Thought #2 – it was just time, that’s why.

Wait a second – screwed up hormones? Possibly… (Thought # 3…) It’s conceivable…

Break – Insert random movie quote:
Humperdink: I think you're bluffing.
Westley: It's possible, pig. I might be bluffing. It's conceivable, you miserable vomitous mass, ...
End Break

Thought #4 – I seem to have committed an unusually high number of faux pas tonight, mostly recognized only by yours truly. I tend to hold myself to high standards. Realizing that I am just as flawed as everyone else (if not more flawed), my dream of proving my worth through my actions is yet again crushed. Grace wins, as expected. Praise God for that. Yet I still am left feeling pretty idiotic and stupid…

Thought #5 – I’m feeling a little selfish about this one, but here’s the thought: When is it okay for me to have a bad night? Would anybody truly care if I shared? Would people’s reactions be enough to make me feel loved, not just know that I am loved? (FYI – I do know that I am loved, but knowing and feeling are two different things.) My life probably appears golden to outsiders. Heck, even I feel like my problems are minimal compared to those of others. Am I starting to hold back to the point where people can’t know me? Am I becoming the dreaded “Minnesota Nice” to avoid alienating people but all the while doing just that?

Or (#6) am I extremely off base and so disconnected from reality that I don’t see how my actions are truly affecting others? Do I give off vibes that confuse things further? Do people think I don’t need them because I’m always shooting for such high standards and appear to be succeeding? Again, do people really know me? Or do they even want to know the real me? (Think: Lyrics to The Real Me by Natalie Grant)

I have so many acceptance issues. I know I could keep going all night with my analysis, but I do need to get at least some sleep. Yet I also need to process these things. Very few people enjoy “processing”, but thankfully, I know some who do (who also enjoy listening and cautiously providing comments). And I can always turn to journaling in the event that I find myself at a loss for a “processing” partner…

Quick Recap

Once again, I have let way too much time pass between posts...

Three weeks worth of classes have come and gone since my last post. So far, the workload is manageable, but there is so much reading that I am afraid for later when I will be expected to actually write based on what I will have read. I am enjoying the discussions, though, and I think I am keeping up with my fellow classmates.

On the work front, I have had a couple of okay weeks. Nothing too stressful - at least having other stressors in my life helps to limit the effects of work-related stress. I have now hosted two training sessions for the subject I have been working on most recently, and on top of that, I am training someone this week on the full gamut of standard processes. I really like weeks like this when my job requires that I take a break from creating materials in order to train people. This is my chance to just be confident in what I know and share my knowledge. In addition, I am finding that I am a very patient person, which is good since it is directly applicable to my job. This makes me feel pretty good about where I currently am in life...

Meh. That’s about enough of that for now. I’m feeling bored with this topic, so moving on…

Kimmie's Party

We just got back from Aunt Kimmie's 50th birthday party. It was a good day with lots of eating and visiting, and a bit of swimming. Matt, surprisingly, spent most of his time in the pool. (He must've been really hot...)

I always enjoy getting together with my mom's family. Some of my most favorite childhood memories are of hanging out with these aunts/uncles/cousins. But I must say, my favorite part of the night is always later on, after most people have had a couple (or more) beers. These are the times when everyone really lets loose and becomes extremely open and honest and laid back. These are the times I remember most, the times I feel I get to know who people are deep down. Don't get me wrong, I love the conversations I have with my family throughout the day, but I just really get into the late night gatherings, and I wish more of my cousins could be there, too.

I really feel like I've missed out a lot on getting to know my older cousins. They're all boys, and there is a significant enough age gap that we never really bonded. Plus, there are so few times that we are actually together, and these times are just not enough for us to truly get to know each other. It doesn't help that I will most likely always be the "little cousin" in their eyes. (I wonder how I act towards my own "little cousins"?)

I want so badly for my family to "get me", and I think many of them do. Weekends like this give me a chance to show my family that there's more to who I am than what they remember about me as a little kid.

My mom said tonight that she was proud of how I've become much better at expressing myself. For most of my life, I've had trouble keeping a cool head when I feel attacked. I know that God has been working in me to correct this problem, and tonight I saw some practical results of His work. My family doesn't mean to attack, but they just can never possibly see things as I see them, and that makes it difficult for them to understand where I'm coming from.

Sometimes when I get together with family, Mom or Dad's side, I have a little difficulty with one thing in particular. People who love me and want the best for me strongly express their opinions right as I'm trying to share something that means a lot to me, and that I've already put a good deal of thought into. I know they just want to help, but it's not what I need. At those moments, I need to be heard and understood. Being the youngest during these conversations typically does not help my credibility with regards to having wisdom, despite the fact that true wisdom is a gift from God and not a result of having more life experiences. This is not to say that I'm always right on, but I do have something to contribute for those willing to let me.

I can only hope that in time, others will be able to look at my life and know that the Lord guides my steps, and that His is the best wisdom out there. Maybe one day, someone will be able to learn something from me , not through my words, but through my life lived for Christ. To God be the glory!

Out of town, yet again...

Here I am in lovely Mt. Horeb, WI, just got in from the almost 5 hour car ride... Having taken a quick nap in the car, I am starting to get my second wind, although Matt wants me to come to sleep.

When we got in the house, we were greeted by my Uncle Greg. His wife (my Mom's sister) and my Mom are down at the local bar for Karaoke night. Yes, I was tempted to walk down there at 12:30 in the morning to join them, but I do realize that I would probably get tired really fast, so better to stay in and post about this instead. :-)

And now for the big news....

As Matt and I started to leave town (we hadn't gotten far on little 10 at all), our hood decided to fly open while we were going about 40 mph. Now we have a bent hood that won't latch, more cracks in our windshield, and a mutilated windshield wiper. Thank goodness for Complete Auto of Blaine, our local, family owned, favorite auto shop! I called about 30 seconds before closing, and the owners ended up waiting for me for 30 minutes to drop off the car, even though there was a drop box for the key. What a great shop! I seriously need to submit a stunning report to the BBB for all this shop does going out of their way to serve customers. :-) Matt will be spending tomorrow morning on the phone with junk yards (looking for a non-bent, used hood) and the shop to determine what to do next. And the good news is? Matt got to drive the car that has cruise control on the trip to Mt. Horeb! Praise the Lord for keeping us safe!

And now, even though I'm still not tired, I think I should head to bed. Have a great Labor Day weekend, everyone!

Schedules...

I am so getting freaked about this fall. Two classes, plus a 40 hour work week, plus activities for church, plus weekend trips - why am I always packing an insane amount of activities into my schedule? What is my deal? And right now, I am so extrememly tired that I could fall asleep on Allison's couch if I wanted.

I just spent the better part of my evening going through my email. So much to keep track of! When will it end?! Seriously, I need a break. But alas, I will not get one anytime soon... unless I go to Heaven early... anywho...

Congrats to Mandy and Phil!

May your mornings bring joy and your evenings bring peace.
May your troubles grow few as your blessings increase.

May the saddest day of your future
Be no worse than the happiest day of your past.
May your hands be forever clasped in friendship
And your hearts joined forever in love.

Your lives are very special,
God has touched you in many ways.

May his blessings rest upon you
And fill all your coming days.

Feeling fat

Last weekend was a lot of fun, and we got a lot of good pictures. But once again, here I go looking at pictures of myself and thinking, who in the heck is that? Is that really how I look?

I have definitely been successful in convincing myself that I'm not that overweight, but the pictures don't lie... When, oh when, will I get the motivation to commit to doing something about this? Argh...

Another wasted evening

I am seriously feeling like I can't get things done if I don't have a scheduled meeting.. What is my deal? I should've packed tonight, but did I? No. I could've prepped for scrapping tomorrow, but did I? No. Instead, I waste my evening following random ideas of little things to do that take up way more time than expected. And now my eyes are tired. I think it's time to turn off this darn computer and go sit next to my hubby while he "kill bad guys"...

The weekend!

Matt and I are leaving on Friday for Colorado. Two of our friends from Purdue are marrying each other, and they've invited a ton of Purdue people to the wedding. It's going to be fun! Hopefully I remember to pack my camera...

BSC Friends

I got a call tonight from one of my friends from BSC... Apparently she was just told today that she is being transferred to a different department. Lots of uncertainty, and no choice in the matter other than to quit. Obviously, that isn't going to happen anytime soon. With plans in the making for shaking things up this winter, who knows what will happen in the next year?

I wish my friend well. I'm praying that her new role will be an even better fit than her previous one!

Two Readers!

Wow, am I moving up in the world... I now have two friends who have visited my blog and are willing to comment. Woohoo! Plus, I remembered to sign in today. How sweet is that?

End of the Spear

Last week our Bible Study group finished up with our most recent study (covering Leviticus). For part of the "in between" time, we decided to watch End of the Spear. I totally see Matt's point that the men shouldn't have defended themselves because it was ultimately part of God's plan to help bring the tribespeople closer to Him, but I still don't think it would've been a bad idea to wear some sort of armor or something... But again, I get it - they did the one thing they could do to most closely resemble Jesus, so good for them. But still... arg. I can't help but value earthly life in addition to eternal life, especially when we can't be certain whether untimely death is really part of God's plan or just us being irresponsible. Am I clinging way to much to earthly life still? Am I alone in thinking this way? I know what point they were trying to get across - This life is temporary. Use it to get more people the non-temporary eternal life. But even earthly life is precious. We try to save it. God saved people from earthly deaths, too. Anyway, I'm just rambling now, so I suppose it's bedtime. :-/

Camping

Last weekend was the annual Xpedition Camping Trip. We went to St. Croix state campground, and even though it was super rainy, we still had a good time. What made it even better was the fact that I was able to talk Matt into buying a bigger tent for this year's trip. So roomy! Anyway, every year I love camping more and more. I used to hate being dirty, and that made camping one of my most unfavorite activities. Now that I have so many good friends to camp with, though, I actually love it. I don't care how yucky I smell, because my friends will still love me (and tell me to shower if I need it). :-) I'm definitely looking forward to next year's camping trip.

Beautification!

After feeling for a while like I was letting myself "go" way too much, I decided it was time to paint my nails (and toenails!). I also spent yesterday "zapping" my broken out face with all the chemicals I could find in my cabinet. Much better now - not so red. It's always a good feeling to know I have at least some control over how red my face is... and now I have pretty painted nails too!

Need....Sleep.....

I have been so exhausted lately, and it's my own fault. I can't seem to get over my night-owl sleeping schedule, even when I want to get up for work at 6:30. Last night, I was up until 2am, and the day before I was up until after midnight. Seriously, what is my deal?
The Camping trip is this weekend, and even though we all usually wake up with the sun, it will be a relaxing Saturday, and I can even take a nap if needed. I might just be tired enough to not want to go to every mini-event this weekend. (If I do skip out on anything, I know my good friends will be shocked.)

Anyway, now I have to make it through today. Good thing I'm leaving at 3pm!

Old Posts

So I used to have an account at Livejournal, but since pretty much only one person read it, I was not motivated to write much. In an effort to motivate myself to write more often, I've decided to move over to a new acount here at Blogspot.

I also don't want to lose my old posts, so I'm just going to move them over... see below.

Long time, no post...

So for those of you who still check this journal, here's my thought of the moment....I am going to be so busy in the next couple of months! And the insanity won't end until a few weeks after I've started classes. I'm feeling pretty good, though, like I'm going to be getting a lot out of life during this time. We'll have to see how this goes - two classes on top of my "normal" schedule. :-)

Deep thought of the morning...

I realized yesterday how random I can be... After talking with my husband this morning, I figured out that my randomness used to bug him a bit. People don't always want to hear every little thing that I think. And the worst part is, since I don't always remember what I say, I could have really ticked off so many people by saying something that hurt them without even realizing it.

I have all these bad memories as teen/preteen of people deciding they didn't like me and proceeding to make that clear to me, and for so long I thought that those situations were purely the result of kids bonding by finding a common enemy - me being the easy target. I'm starting to wonder if what really happened was that I said or did something that hurt these people, and they just didn't know how to tell me or forgive me.

While I definitely have the natural tendency to just be totally open and free with what I share, sometimes doing so is not the best plan and could possibly cause me to lose friends. Knowing when to not talk has got to be one of the hardest obstacles I will ever have to try to overcome.

Back to a regular schedule

So it's been three weeks since I started my new job. Things are going super well, and I feel so much better about what I do now. As always, though, there are a few tasks that I've been meaning to do for a while that I just can't seem to find the motivation for. It seems that if I wait long enough, they won't really matter anymore - maybe I'll just do that... :-) Can't skip cleaning the cat litter, though. (Too bad for me...)

Also, I've finally gotten through last year's pictures that needed to be scrapbooked, so now I get to focus completely on whatever I want. I'm thinking that I will only scrapbook a few major events per year. Limiting myself will hopefully help me to not feel so overwhelmed with "keeping up", so then I will be more excited about just doing pages for fun. I guess this means that tomorrow I'm going to take a trip up to Joann's and pick up a new album. Woohoo!

The new job

Now that I have had 2 days on the job, I suppose I should give a bit of an update.

As I've probably mentioned already, I am working for Merrill Corporation in St. Paul as an Associate Training Specialist. I sit in a "pod", as I like to call it, with 4 workstations total. I share my pod with 2 other St. Paul trainers, and for the week, one London trainer. The whole place has a really laid back atmosphere, and I think I'm totally going to thrive in the environment. My schedule can be flexible if needed, but for now, I need to be there when the other trainers are there so I can absorb as much knowledge as possible.

While I'm learning a lot from the other trainers, my job is a bit unique. I'm the first trainer ever to be assigned to the Production department, meaning that the people I will eventually work with the most will have a slightly different set of tools than the rest of the organization, and I will be working to create materials that fit their needs. It is definitely going to be fun learning what they do and creating training to fit the job. It seems I will have a lot of autonomy and room for creativity while working with other people who also like to be creative while solving problems and helping other people to learn the software and processes. In my opinion, this is a perfect fit for me at this point in my career.

Anyway, that's probably enough for now. Not much else is going on other than running errands at night and watching a bunch of season finales. It will be nice not to have to worry about fitting in all of my regular TV watching while starting this job. I'm definitely going to have some fun this summer... and hopefully I will be able to get back into the regular habit of scrapbooking...

Rambling

So here I am at scrapbooking night... For some reason, I'm not feeling as happy today. I wonder if I'm stressed about having to start a new job on Monday. Maybe I'm just bummed about still having a long list of things to do that I don't really have enough time to get done.

I've decided I want to try harder at eating good food, taking care of myself, using time wisely,etc. I wish that I was one of those people who could just decide they wanted to do something and then do it. Too bad-I'm not. I guess if I had one wish,that would be it. I would definitely want the ability to use willpower to control my actions. You'd think that I already had this ability,but apparently not. I'm still not living life I'd like to.

I feel like I'm just rambling right now, so I hope I'm making sense. And now I can't think of anything else to say... So,anywho...

Statewide smoking ban

Big news of the day - Pawlenty signed a statewide smoking ban that includes restaurants, bars, bowling alleys, etc. MN is the 20th (I think) state to do so. The question is always about freedom. Is the gov't stepping on our freedom, are they crossing the line?

My answer to this is that I'm finally glad to have the freedom to go to any restaurant that I want and not have to get asthma attacks, headaches, feelings of nausea, etc. That's my freedom, and I'm glad that it is being protected. Matt is glad about the ban, but he thinks the line was crossed. He's concerned for the business owners whose businesses might have to close due to lack of customers caused by the smoking ban. Of course, this is the position that one of his favorite radio talk show hosts takes, but I'm not saying that he's just following that guy's opinion.

I'm pretty passionate about ridding the world of tobacco, so this is obviously a topic that Matt and I really shouldn't discuss. I wonder what the rest of the people in this state think...

Vacation... finally!

So this is a good week. I finished my first graduate level class on Monday. My final presentation went well. We got 24/25, so that puts me at about a 96% in the class - not too shabby. Also, I'm starting my job on Monday, so that means I have the rest of this week to get some new clothes and close out some of my remaining personal tasks. Of course I'm still keeping busy, so it's not likely that I'll get that much done. I do hope to get my house cleaned, though. Once again, it's gotten way too out of control, especially with regards to cat hair. It is nice, though, to just have "home stuff" to do this week. The only thing better would be if I could stop time like Hiro Nakamura. Then I could really get some things done...

Yay for interviews!

So my good news of the week is that I have now had two successful interviews! I just heard back from the first, and b/c they are such a small company and going through many internal changes, they decided not to fill the position at all. Still, they really liked my resume and my "presentation" during the interview. And since they are a staffing firm, this will hopefully prove to be beneficial. Bummer that it's not an offer, but I still have the second job to hope for.... I guess this means I shouldn't stop shopping around just yet. :-)

Cancelled meeting!

So today I was supposed to meet with classmates, but thankfully I checked my email and saw that we might not need to meet, which means we won't be meeting. Woohoo! I did get most of my individual prep done, but now I can stop for the day. How nice is that? Oh, and I was able to apply for a job at a company where I have an inside contact, so hopefully I can network my way into this job. We'll see...

So I am feeling like I just can't get anything done right now. There's so much I want to be doing, and so much I have to do, but it just isn't easy to get things done. I am so tempted just to slack right now.... This morning I am going to a dress rehearsal for a set of music for the Easter service, and playing music usually helps me relax, so hopefully this will be a good thing for my level of motivation. :-)

Allergies Suck

So yesterday and today I felt/feel like crap thanks to running out of my allergy pills and not remembering to call in a refill before the doctors office closed on Tuesday. Thankfully, yesterday I was able to get some more medicine, so things are starting to get better. Looks like today I'm going to be staying at home and recovering... Thank goodness that I don't have any meetings today.

I did it!

I finally left the company! It feels freeing and scary all at the same time. Praise God for the push I needed to make the decision. Now I'm just praying that He'll make it clear where I need to go next. I suppose this means that I should get back to the job hunt now...

Feeling stressed

Change is good. I've finally realized that I will never be happy working as an electrical engineer. On this note, I've started a masters program specializing in human resource development, I've accepted a voluntary lay-off from my current electrical engineering job, and I've started the search for a new, more personally fulfilling line of work.

I'm not alone in this mindset, apparently. Many of my friends, past classmates, and random acquaintances have expressed similar feelings about their careers recently. I used to wonder how so many people ended up so far away from their initial career aspirations, and now I know why. People are just incapable of knowing what they really want until they suffer through something they don't want. Or so it seems.... I'm just grateful that I'm surrounded by people who let me know I'm not insane for making such drastic changes.